Indemnity Clauses Cannot Be Reviewed

Aspects of the 1992 Constitution which indemnity all coups and their deeds since 1966 cannot be the subject of any review, according to an Accra-based lawyer, Mr. David Annan.

Wading into the constitutional review debate, he claimed that “it is not possible for the review commission to include these clauses in its proposals” and that any attempt to target the indemnity clauses for review would be a waste of time.

His reaction followed earlier suggestions that the country might be heading for a national referendum to amend aspects of the Constitution, including some of the entrenched clauses. He said the framers of the Constitution had crafted the procedure for amending the “entrenched provisions,” which must all proceed from acts of Parliament, but Article 37 of the Transitional Provisions made it emphatic that Parliament could not touch the indemnity clauses.

“It will be an exercise in futility for the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) to even consider receiving proposals on those particular clauses,” he emphasized. The relevant article provides that, “Notwithstanding anything in chapter 25 of this Constitution, Parliament shall have no power to amend this section or sections 34 and 35 of this schedule.”

Mr Annan argued that since constitutional amendments could only be effected by Parliament, the letter and spirit of that provision was that the indemnity clauses could not be amended.

Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana